Side-loading self-propelled material transporting device

ABSTRACT

A device for loading, transporting and unloading material, such as pipe, steel beams, lumber and the like, comprising a selfpowered vehicle having a pair of arms pivotally mounted on the bed of said vehicle, said arms being jointed and having hydraulic winches in the heads thereof, with hydraulic stabilizing means mounted on said vehicle on the side opposite the base of said arms. The device further includes an engine centrally mounted below the bed on which loads are positioned, extensible gantries and booms, a rotatable control position and is adaptable for utilizing hooks, magnets, forks and other types of lifting mechanisms. This abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application which, of course, is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.

United States Patent Schweis [54] SIDE-LOADING SELF-PROPELLED MATERIAL TRANSPORTING DEVICE [72] Inventor: Robert W. Schweis, Houston, Tex.

[73] Assignee: Crutcher Resources Corporatio Houston, Tex. I

[22] Filed: May 28, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 41,215

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 725,014, April 29, 1968, abandoned.

521 u.s.c1. ..214/77,214/s0,212/s B, 212/55, 212/59 51 1111.01. ..B60p1/48 [58] Field of Search ..214/141, 130,131, 77, 78, 214/80, 75 G; 212/8, 8 B, 55, 59

1 51 Aug. 22, 1972 3,187,905 6/1965 Moskopf et al. ..214/77 UX 3,452,888 7/1969 Larson et al ..214/80 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 899,484 6/1962 Great Britain ..214/77 1,027,451 4/ 1966 Great Britain ..212/59 Primary Examiner-Robert J. Spar Attorney-J. Vincent Martin, Joe E. Edwards and Jack R. Springgate ABSTRACT A device for loading, transporting and unloading material, such as pipe, steel beams, lumber and the like, comprising a self-powered vehicle having a pair of arms pivotally mounted on the bed of said vehicle, said arms being jointed and having hydraulic winches in the heads thereof, with hydraulic stabilizing means mounted on said vehicle on the side opposite the base of said arms. The device further includes an engine centrally mounted below the bed on which loads are positioned, extensible gantries and booms, a rotatable control position and is adaptable for utilizing hooks, magnets, forks and other types of lifting mechanisms. This abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application which, of course, is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.

5 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTEDwazz m2 3.685673 flab er/ W JCAWE/J INVESTOR.

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SIDE-LOADING SELF-PROPELLED MATERIAL TRANSPORTING DEVICE This application is a continuation-in-part of my prior copending application Ser. No. 725,014, filed Apr. 29, 1968, now abandoned.

SUMMARY The present invention relates to a side-loading material transporting device having laterally extending jointed arms hydraulically actuated, with winch means in the heads of the arms,and stabilizing means extending laterally from said device, said arms being movable into load lifting and depositing position to load material on the vehicle or on raisedstacks, and the like, adjacent the vehicle, or into other vehicles on a lower plane such as barges.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved side-loading material transporting device which is capable of lifting substantial elongated loads and of carrying such loads through a narrow space.

Another object is to provide an improved side-loading material handling device having a maximum bed area for carrying materials.

A further object is to provide an improved side-loading material handling device which is simple to operate and provides a maximum amount of safety in handling loads.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other objects of the present invention are hereinafter set forth and explained with reference to the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view, in perspective, of the device with the arms in retracted position.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the device, showing the arms in another position, and illustrating the movement of the arms in dotted lines.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the device illustrating the arm actuation means employed.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged front view of one form of arm head, showing the winches employed in dotted line.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view of a fork mounted on the end of the arms.

FIG. 6 is a side elevation view of a modified form of device showing the engine location below the loading bed.

FIG. 7 is an elevation view of one of the modified arms having both extensible gantry and boom.

FIG. 8 is a plan view illustrating the pickup of a load and the movement of the cab so that the operator can face forward during movement of the device and the load during lifting operations.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the extensible gantry.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of the roller support for movement of the telescoping sections of the gantry taken along line 10-10 in FIG. 9.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the drawings, the numeral 1 designates a flat bed vehicle body having the cab 2 housing the motor and controls (not shown) and having the fixed boom supports 3, 3. A pair of main boom members 4, 4 are pivotally mounted on the supports 3, 3 and the gantry members 5, 5 are pivotally mounted on the extended ends of said members 4, 4, forming the gantry boom. Supporting members 6, 6 maintain the main boom members in horizontal alignment, and hydraulic rams as 7, 7 adjacent each support member 3, 3, and the hydraulic ram 8 mounted on the vehicle bed between the boom members 4, 4, have the extended ends of their ram piston arms mounted on the transverse supporting shaft 9. The shaft 9 is in the ends of the boom members 4, 4, rearwardly of the fulcrum point 10, 10 of the main boom members 4, 4 in the supports 3, 3.

Hydraulic rams ll, 11 are mounted on the inside walls of the boom members 4, 4 and the extended ends of the pistons of said rams 11, 11 are pivotally anchored to the gantry members 5, 5.

The extended ends of the gantry members 5, 5 form the head of the gantry, having the hydraulically operated winches 12, 12 which actuate the cat heads l3, 13.

A pair of hydraulic rams act as stabilizers l4, l4 and are mounted on the vehicle bed 1, on the side opposite the supports 3, 3.

In operation, the controls in the cab permit the loading arms to be employed in loading pipe, steel beams, lumber and the like from the side, the jointed structure permitting picking up a load from a stack, barge or car, or the like, and placing same on the truck in the desired location, the cat heads, with the usual line 15 and hook 16 being employed in the usual manner, and said winches 12, 12 being operable independently or together. With the booms movable as shown in FIG. 2, the load may be taken from or deposited on stacks below or above the level of the truck bed, the dual arms providing adequate power as well as control of the load being lifted.

In the form shown in FIG. 5, a fork 17 is attached to the arm 18, in lieu of the catheads. With the arm being jointed, the load may be lifted from any location and maintained level as it is loaded on the vehicle 19.

A modified form of side-loading truck is shown in FIGS. 6 through 10. Such truck has a bed 20 suitably supported on wheels with an engine mounted in the housing 21 centrally beneath the bed 20, a cab 22 and loading means mounted to one side of the bed 20.

As in the form of device previously described, the lifting means includes a rotary table support 23, with jointed arms 24 tied together by the traces 25 pivotally mounted on support 23 and the winches 26 in the heads on arms 24. Any suitable load engaging means may be used and in the modified form shown magnets 27 are supported on the cables 28 from the winches. As shown in FIG. 6, the bed 20 has the stabilizing rams 29 on the side of the bed away from cab 22 and support 23 similar to the stabilizers 14 previously described.

The hydraulic rams 30 engage the transverse supporting shafts 31 to control the pivoting of the main boom members 32 with respect to the support 23. The hydraulic rams 33 control the pivoting of the gantry members 34 with respect to the main boom members 32.

The arms 24 are similar to the arms 4, 5 except that both the main boom members 32 and the gantry members 34 are extensible. By constructing such members of telescoping structural members and means for extending and retracting the structural members, the flexibility of the loading means is substantially extended.

Such structure allows loading from and unloading to positions higher, lower and farther from the truck than would be possible with short fixed arms but retains the advantage of minimizing the extention of the arms out from the truck when the arms are in fully retracted posltlon.

The telescoping structure of the arm members is best shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. A gantry member 34 is shown composed of end members 35 and 36 with telescoping structural means 37 extending between the end members and the ram 38 extending between the end members 35 and 36 and through the structural means 37.

The telescoping structural means 37 includes the outer box member 39, the inner channel 40 and the means slidably supporting the channel 40 within the box 39. Such support means includes the rollers 41 which engage the corners of channel 40 and the rollers 42 which engage the ends of the legs of the channel 40. Each of the rollers 41 and 42 are rotatively mounted on pins which are supported by portions of the box 39 on both sides of the rollers.

FIG. which clearly illustrates the roller support of the telescoping means is a typical section, there being a plurality of such roller stations to assure sufficient strength for supporting all loads imposed thereon.

The cab 22 as best shown in FIG. 8 is pivotally mounted on the bed so that the operator can face in the direction of movement when driving the truck and can face the load during loading and unloading of the truck. This pivoting of the cab to allow the operator to see what he is doing without difficulty, greatly improves the safety of the improved side-loading truck of the present invention. Also, since support 23 is a rotary table type of support the pivoting of cab 22 is especially desirable to give the operator a clear view of the am 24 particularly when they have been rotated to a position other than extending across the bed 20.

While the foregoing is considered the preferred embodiments of the invention, they are by way of illustration only, the broad principle of the invention being defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A side-loading transporting device comprising a bed suitably supported on wheels,

means for propelling said bed,

a pair of jointed loading arms,

each of said loading arms including a main boom member and a gantry member,

support means positioned to one side of said bed for pivotally mounting said loading arms thereto with said arms extending toward the opposite side of said bed,

means for pivotally mounting said main boom members to said support means,

means for pivotally mounting said gantry members to its main boom member,

means securing said loading arms in parallel relation to each other,

means on said loading arms for engaging a load, and

means for actuating said loading arms to load and unload material onto and from said bed,

said main boom members each having telescoping structural members and means for extending and retracting said main boom structural members,

said gantry members each having telescoping structural members and means for extending and retracting said gantry structural members.

2. A side-loading transporting device according to claim 1 wherein said main boom and gantry structural members each include a pair of end members,

a telescoping structural means connected between said end members, and

said extending and retracting means extending axially through said telescoping structural means.

3. A side-loading transporting device according to claim 2 wherein said telescoping structural means includes an outer box member,

an inner channel member, and

means for slidably supporting said channel member within said box member.

4. A side-loading transporting device according to claim 3 wherein said slidable supporting means includes a first set of rollers rotatably mounted in said outer box member and adapted to have rolling engagement with the corners of said channel member, and

a second set of rollers rotatably mounted in said outer box member and adapted to have rolling engagement with the pads of the legs of said channel member.

5. A side-loading transporting device, comprising a bed suitably supported on wheels,

an engine for driving said bed,

a housing for said engine positioned beneath the central portion of said bed,

a pair of jointed loading arms,

support means positioned to one side of said bed for pivotally mounting said loading arms thereto with said arms extending toward the opposite side of said bed,

each of said loading arms including a main boom member,

means pivotally connecting said main boom member to said support means,

a gantry member,

means pivotally connecting said gantry member to said main boom member, and

means for extending and retracting at least one of said main boom member and said gantry member, means seeming said loading arms in parallel relationship to each other,

means on said loading arms for engaging a load,

means for actuating said loading arms to load and unload material onto and from said bed,

a cab on said bed containing the controls for moving said device and said loading arms,

means for rotatably mounting said cab on said bed to allow the operator to face in the direction of movement of the device and toward the load being engaged by said engaging means,

said cab being positioned on the same side of said bed on which said support means is positioned, said extending and retracting means including an outer box member, an inner channel member, means for slidably supporting said channel member within said box member, and a ram consecond set of rollers rotatably mounted in said outer box member and adapted to have rolling engagement with the ends of the legs of said channel member. 

1. A side-loading transporting device comprising a bed suitably supported on wheels, means for propelling said bed, a pair of jointed loading arms, each of said loading arms including a main boom member and a gantry member, support means positioned to one side of said bed for pivotally mounting said loading arms thereto with said arms extending toward the opposite side of said bed, means for pivotally mounting said main boom members to said support means, means for pivotally mounting said gantry members to its main boom member, means securing said loading arms in parallel relation to each other, means on said loading arms for engaging a load, and means for actuating said loading arms to load and unload material onto and from said bed, said main boom members each having telescoping structural members and means for extending and retracting said main boom structural members, said gantry members each having telescoping structural members and means for extending and retracting said gantry structural members.
 2. A side-loading transporting device according to claim 1 wherein said main boom and gantry structural members each include a pair of end members, a telescoping structural means connected between said end members, and said extending and retracting means extending axially through said telescoping structural means.
 3. A side-loading transporting device according to claim 2 wherein said telescoping structural means includes an outer box member, an inner channel member, and means for slidably supporting said channel member within said box member.
 4. A side-loading transporting device according to claim 3 wherein said slidable supporting means includes a first set of rollers rotatably mounted in said outer box member and adapted to have rolling engagement with the corners of said channel member, and a second set of rollers rotatably mounted in said outer box member and adapted to have rolling engagement with the pads of the legs of said channel member.
 5. A side-loading tranSporting device, comprising a bed suitably supported on wheels, an engine for driving said bed, a housing for said engine positioned beneath the central portion of said bed, a pair of jointed loading arms, support means positioned to one side of said bed for pivotally mounting said loading arms thereto with said arms extending toward the opposite side of said bed, each of said loading arms including a main boom member, means pivotally connecting said main boom member to said support means, a gantry member, means pivotally connecting said gantry member to said main boom member, and means for extending and retracting at least one of said main boom member and said gantry member, means securing said loading arms in parallel relationship to each other, means on said loading arms for engaging a load, means for actuating said loading arms to load and unload material onto and from said bed, a cab on said bed containing the controls for moving said device and said loading arms, means for rotatably mounting said cab on said bed to allow the operator to face in the direction of movement of the device and toward the load being engaged by said engaging means, said cab being positioned on the same side of said bed on which said support means is positioned, said extending and retracting means including an outer box member, an inner channel member, means for slidably supporting said channel member within said box member, and a ram connected across said members to extend and retract said extending and retracting means, and said slidable supporting means including a first set of rollers rotatably mounted in said outer box member and adapted to have rolling engagement with the corners of said channel member and a second set of rollers rotatably mounted in said outer box member and adapted to have rolling engagement with the ends of the legs of said channel member. 